League Of Legends Adding 'Honour' System

Competitive games like League of Legends tend not to have reputations for particularly nice or well-behaved communities. In short, players are often foul-mouthed jerks to each other. The environment can be daunting to new players and can begin to wear down even the more experienced folk, after a while.

Ignore and report functions, while vital, go only so far. League of Legends developer Riot Games is now going to be trying something new: actively rewarding players who are good to each other, and not just punishing players who are jerks. They're calling it the honour system, and basing it on the good old, tried and true principles of positive reinforcement:

We're well versed in research done on concepts in psychology such as positive reinforcement and how it can improve behaviours, and we've also found that some of the most meaningful, memorable moments in League come from the positive interactions players have with each other. Everyone's had one of these days: You are struggling in a game and find yourself in a situation where a teammate could have easily trolled or flamed you, but instead goes out of his way to be a helpful, compassionate team-player. He says, "Hey, don't worry about the first blood." You may not friend this player or ever play with him again, but this small, kind gesture made a difference and is something you remembered.

Through honour you'll be able to give something lasting back to those players who went out of their way to make your game experience better.

The more a game community does to encourage actual community and good behaviour in its players, the better off we all are. The system should be showing up to the public beta environment in its next update.

As some one who doesn't mind playing support, but strongly dislikes watching your adc/mid/top lemming it up I hate a system that would then ask me to be nice to some one who some how manages to have three deaths pre level six.

hmm..interesting to see if this has any effect on behaviour. LoL has one of the most toxic communities I've seen in a game. is there something to be gained from acting honourably in LoL, other than the intangible satisfaction of taking the high moral ground?

I figure I don't know all the facts, so I'll (rarely) start anything but when abused I find it near-impossible not to serve it right back as viciously as I can.

While I wouldnt say its the most toxic, weve got dota, hon and the CoD franchises baying for that title, it is still preety bad. I have to agree if something more positive comes out of it Im for it. I suspect though that this will turn into honour trading. Ill honour you if you honour me?

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